Hans Namuth photographs and papers, 1945-1985
Object Details
- Creator
- Namuth, Hans, 1915-1990
- Subject
- Davis, Stuart
- Stieglitz, Alfred
- Adams, Ansel
- Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig
- Breuer, Marcel
- Newman, Arnold
- Boynton, Jack
- Krasner, Lee
- Norman, Dorothy
- Wyeth, Andrew
- De Kooning, Willem
- Picasso, Pablo
- Noguchi, Isamu
- Cage, John
- Hartigan, Grace
- Koch, Kenneth
- Johns, Jasper
- Rothko, Mark
- Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster)
- Hopper, Edward
- Copland, Aaron
- Rauschenberg, Robert
- Navaretta, Cynthia
- Pollock, Jackson
- Castelli, Leo
- Calder, Alexander
- Shaw, Elizabeth Roberts
- Karpel, Bernard
- Jewish Museum (New York, N.Y.)
- Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)
- Yale University. School of Art and Architecture
- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
- Exposition universelle et internationale (1958 : Brussels, Belgium)
- Place of publication, production, or execution
- United States
- Physical Description
- 4.5 Linear feet
- Arrangement
- This collection is arranged as 3 series. Series 1: Alfred Stieglitz Film Project, 1945-circa 1981 (Box 1, OV 11; 0.8 linear feet) Series 2: Professional Files, 1953-1985 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet) Series 3: Photographs, 1945-1984 (Box 2-10; 3.4 linear feet)
- Access Note / Rights
- Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
- Summary
- The papers of New York photographer and filmmaker Hans Namuth measure 4.5 linear feet and date from 1945 to 1985. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs taken by Namuth of New York artists. Also included are papers regarding Namuth's film about Alfred Stieglitz and other professional files.
- Citation
- Hans Namuth photographs and papers, 1945-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
- Use Note
- All Photographs by Hans Namuth: All requests for image reproductions are to be sent to: Assistant Registrar for Rights & Reproductions; Center for Creative Photography. Contact Reference Services for more information.
- The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
- Related Materials
- Also at the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Hans Namuth, Aug. 12-Sept. 8, 1971. Additional Hans Namuth papers are located at the Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona.
- Biography Note
- Hans Namuth (1915-1990) was a German-American photographer and filmmaker who lived and worked in New York. He was primarily known for his work photographing prominent American artists in the 1950s and 1960s.
- Namuth was born in Germany but left for France in 1933 after the rise of the Nazi Party. While in France, he struck up a friendship with fellow German Georg Reisner. From 1935 to 1939, Namuth and Reisner worked together as photographers primarily in Paris. His first works to catch the public's attention came from an assignment in Barcelona that accidentally coincided with the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Following a short internment in Nazi-occupied France, Namuth left for the United States.
- After taking photography classes with Alexey Brodovitch, art director of Harper's Bazaar, Namuth met Jackson Pollock at an exhibition in 1950 and asked to photograph the artist at work. His subsequent photographs of Pollock raised both artists' profiles. Namuth would spend the next three decades photographing major New York artists, architects, and art-related events for commission and for his own studio. He directed a number of films in collaboration with Paul Falkenberg and published several books of photographs. Namuth died in Long Island in 1990.
- Language Note
- Collection is in English.
- Provenance
- The collection was donated 1972-1985 by Hans Namuth.
- Location Note
- Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
- Record number
- (DSI-AAA_CollID)8069
- (DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210240
- AAA_collcode_namuhans
- Type
- Interviews
- Photographs
- Transcripts
- Place
- Massachusetts -- Boston
- Theme
- Lives of artists
- Archives of American Art
- Topic
- Artists -- New York (State) -- New York
- Filmmakers -- New York (State) -- New York
- Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York
- Theme
- Lives of artists
- Record ID
- AAADCD_coll_210240
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
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